November Releases: Six New Books to Read After the Vote
From a hidden hockey memoir by Don DeLillo to a history of Amazonian poison, these six titles arrive this month.
By Robert Marshall ·
Six new books hit shelves this month, offering readers a break from election coverage with stories ranging from domestic drama to hidden literary secrets. The releases include novels, history, and a memoir that has remained a cult favorite for decades.
Louise Kennedy returns with her second novel, Stations. The Northern Irish author, who spent nearly three decades as a chef before turning to writing, describes the transition as "strangely liberating." The book explores the aftermath of a young love that fails due to family history rather than religious differences.
Mary Beth Keane publishes Whale Harbor, a novel centered on an Irish father and his sons. The story spans years, seas, and continents. Fresh Air critic Maureen Corrigan previously compared Keane to Ann Patchett, noting that both authors transform closely observed domestic tales into something universal.
History professor Matt O'Hara from the University of California, Santa Cruz, releases The Flying Death: Poison, Plunder, and the Quest for a Miracle Medicine in the Amazon. The book details the pursuit of curare, a lethal poison known as "flying death" used in blowdarts. Researchers sought its medicinal properties starting in the 1930s, a quest that impacted pharmacology and the Amazonian tribes whose role was often forgotten.
Daisy Johnson, who became the youngest Booker Prize finalist at age 27 in 2018, publishes Long Wave. The British writer’s latest work continues her style of spare prose and foreboding atmosphere. The novel focuses on women carrying family bonds that feel like broken glass, mixing love with menace.
Tahmima Anam’s Uprising is set on a river island in Bangladesh. The story follows women trapped in forced prostitution under a cruel madam, with men arriving nightly by boat. Rising waters from climate change add to their isolation. The narrative is told largely from the perspective of the women’s children, and the arrival of a new girl begins to change the dynamic.
Cleo Birdwell’s Amazons: An Intimate Memoir by the First Woman Ever to Play in the National Hockey League returns to print this year. The book is a comedy of ice hockey and romance that first appeared more than 40 years ago. The author, Don DeLillo, did not publicly acknowledge the pseudonym until 2020. He approved the republication earlier this year with a preface that reads: "I don't want to talk about it."
